Storms in the United States this week

We pause in prayer for the Carolinas
as Hurricane Florence roars
to the coast line.
We ask God’s grace on
those who are evacuating,
those who should not stay behind but do,
on first responders, who do not know
what call will come,
but that it will,
and for so many who will dig out
their lives from mud and debris
and begin to rebuild.

We worry as well
about hurricanes Isaac and Helene
and where their landfall may be,
and whisper hopes
for Hawai’i where Olivia bears down,
and for Mariana and Guam
in the path of Cyclone Mangkhut.

This week in the United States
is the observance of
Suicide Prevention week,
and I think –
this is a storm always coming,
it’s path as unpredictable
as the spaghetti models of forecasters.

And this, too —
we must never evacuate
for we are all first responders.